Magnetically actuated annunciator for elevators



June 1, 1954 c. J. DRATHSCHMIDT 2,530,242

MAGNETICALLY ACTUATED ANNUNCIATOR FOR ELEVATORS Filed Nov. 29. 1952 PERMANENT MAGNET Patented June 1, 1954 MAGNETICALLY ACTUATED ANNUNCIATOR FOR ELEVATORS Carl John Drathschmidt, New York, N. Y.

Application November 29, 1952, Serial No. 323,280

7 Claims.

This invention relates to annunciators and more particularly to a magnetically actuated annunciator.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an annunciator which does not work by gravity and which contains no hinges which would wear out after prolonged use.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an annunciator of the above type which can be used vertically or horizontally.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an annunciator of the above type which can be conveniently located near the control handle in an elevator thus permitting the operator to observe the same without bending his head from its normal position.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an annunciator of the above type which is small and compact and which contains practically no parts which can wear out.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide signalling indicia which are actuated by by an electric magnet, a permanent magnet being provided at the center of the electric magnet and serving to retain the actuated indicia in operative position after the electric magnet has been de-energized, this permanent magnet being insulated on its side remote from its associated indicia so as to not interfere with the adjacent indicia of the next electro-magnet.

Other objects of the invention are to provide an annunciator bearing the above objects in mind which is of simple construction, inexpensive to manufacture, has a minimum number of parts, is compact, easy to operate and efficient in use.

For other objects and for a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an annunciator embodying the features of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an exploded, perspective View of the principal parts of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the sliding tab in a returned position and Fig. 6 is a front elevational view of one of the electro-magnets shown alone and showing the permanent magnet and the insulator therefore.

iii)

which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views,

there is shown an annunciator, referred to collectively as iii, and including a rear casing II having a bottom wall l2 and a rearwardly inclined back wall i3, substantially as illustrated.

A front casing 14 having a rearwardly inclined front wall i5 parallel to rear wall I3 is provided therein with a window opening it, substantially as illustrated, the window opening it overlying the back wall 13.

The front .wall 15 is integrally formed with rearwardly extending, vertical side walls H, a top wall It and a rear wall it, the rear casing 13 fitting within the front casing hi in the manner shown in Figs. 1 and 3 with the rear wall casing [3 being secured to the rear wall of casing I4 by means of a vertically extending extension 23 of rearwardly inclined back wall [3 and screws 2|. A vertically extending extension 22 of front wall l5 of front casing It is further secured to bottom wall I2 of rear casing H by means of brackets 22 and screws 23, as shown in Fig. 3. The front casing it may be removed from rear casing H by removal of screws El and 23, thereby permitting access to the interior parts to be described.

A plurality of magnetic actuators, referred to collectively as 24, are secured to back wall 13 in longitudinally and vertically spaced positions below the window opening 56, substantially as illustrated.

All of these actuators 24 are identical in construction and but one of them will therefore be I described in detail.

Each actuator 24; includes a core 25 around which is coiled copper wires 26, the free ends of wire 26 being connected to terminal screws 2'? mounted in a front board 28 of plastic suitably secured to bottom wall l2 and to insulated cord 29 suitably connected to a source of voltage. Each of the wires 26 is connected in parallel with the source of voltage, not shown, and in series with the manually operable switches on each floor by means of the terminal screws 2'5. A buzzer 3G is also connected in series with the source of voltage so that when any one of the manually operable switches, not shown, is closed to actuate one of the cores 25, the elevator operator will be advised by sound as well as visually in a manner to be hereinafter described.

The core 25 is hollow at its center and mounted upon an inner core 3| of suitable material secured at its bottom to rear wall [3 by means of screws 32, as shown in Fig. 3. The inner core 3 3 l is hollow at its center and receives therewithin a permanent magnet 33, the magnet 33 being secured in place by means of set-screws 34. It will be noted that the permanent magnet 33 extends upwardly beyond the inner core 31 and core 25 for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

An elongated brass plate 35 having a bottom 36 and vertically extending, longitudinal side walls 3! and 38 is suitably secured within the window opening it along the upper edges of side walls 3'! and 38, as shown in Fig. 3, the bottom 36 being provided with a plurality of openings adapted to receive the upwardly extending permanent magnets 33. The plate 35 is integrally formed with transverse end portions 39 and 40 of greater thickness than the bottom 36 and a central, longitudinal portion 6| connecting the transverse portions 39 and 40 and also of a greater thickness than the bottom 36, the portions 39, 49 and ll providing a pair of longitudinal recesses 32 and 43 adapted to slidably receive a plurality of sliding tabs 44, substantially as illustrated. The tabs 44 are colored black for a purpose to be hereinafter described, and are formed of steel or iron so as to be permeable to the magnetic field of electro-magnetic actuators 24.

The bottom 3%, the transverse portions 39 and 40 and the longitudinal portion 4| are provided with a longitudinally extending slot which slidably receives an elongated bar 45 extending outwardly of the casing is at one side and having secured to its end a handle 3. I'he bar t is formed with a vertically extending flange 47 which slides in. a vertical slot provided in the portions 38, ll and ll above the bar 45, substantially as illustrated.

As shown in Fig. 2, each of the tabs is normally positioned in recesses 42 and 43 to the left of its respective electro-magnetic actuator 24!, the extreme leftward movement of these tabs being limited by the transverse portion 39 and pins til secured to the upper face of bottom During the energization of the cores 25 upon the closing of the manually operable switches in each fioor, the magnetic flux emanating therefrom draws the associated tab 44 from its extreme leftward position described above to a position adjacent the permanent magnet 33, where it is retained by the latter after the core 25 has been de-energized, see Fig. i. This permanent magnet eiiect is very important, as it prevents the tab from being drawn away from the de-energized actuator 25 when an adjacent actuator is energized to the left.

The permanent magnets 33, on their faces remote from their associated tabs 44, are cut away at their top ends and brass insulators 59 inserted therein, substantially as illustrated. These insulators 59 prevent the permanent magnets 33 from retaining a rightwardly disposed tab ii: from responding to its associated actuator 24 and are an important feature of the present invention.

A transparent glass 59 closes the window opening 16 and has marked thereon gold numerals adapted to overlie the sliding tabs 44, substantially as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. "When the tabs it are in the extreme left position shown in Fig. 2, the gold numerals are seen against the gold background of bar 35 and are therefore substantially invisible. However, upon movement of one of the tabs 44 to its position adjacent its respective permanent magnet 33 in response to the closing of one of the manually operable switches, not shown, on one of the floors and the actuation of its respective core 25, the gold numerals will be seen against the background of the black colored tab, thereby making the nu ineral clearly visible, gold on black. This visibility of a particular numeral will be accompanied by the actuation of the buzzer 30 in accordance with the circuit already described. The numeral thus made visible will, of course, correspond to the particular floor on which the switch has been closed.

When the operator desires to clear the annunciator, it is only necessary to push the bar by means of handle 35 to the extreme left position shown in Fig. 5, pins 5| secured to bar ii; and appropriately spaced carrying the tabs back to their respective inoperative positions limited by the pins 68. The handle 45 and bar 45 are then returned by spring 5 to their original posi on to permit the tabs st to respond to the energization of their respective actuators 24.

While I have shown the tabs it as moving in a hori cntal direction under the influence of the actuators it will be readily apparent that they may be arranged in a vertically movable path without materially altering the arrangement construction, since their movement depends not on gravity but upon the actuation of their respective clectro-magnets, and that they are retained in the operative position by the permanent magnets 33.

It will be noted that an important feature of the present invention is the provision of the above mentioned permanent magnets, inasmuch as they retain the tabs l 'l in the operative position bethe gold numerals and thereby prevent them from being drawn back to their inoperative position by the actuation of an adjacent actuator 2d, even though the actuator to which they originally responded is no longer actuated. Another impo tant feature of the present invention is the pro ion of the brass insulators 39 on the other side of the permanent magnets 33, thus preventing the magnets 33 from retarding the response of a rightwardly disposed tab 4 4 in response to its respective actuator 25.

While various changes may be made in the detailed construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims:

Havii g thus set forth and disclosed the nature of my invention, what is claimed is:

1. An annunoiator comprising a transparent carrying colored indieia thereon, a channelshaped member disposed below said glass in alignment with said indicia, the color of said channelshaped member being substantially the same as that of said indicia, a plurality of contrastingly colored tabs disposed on said channel-shaped member and adapted to slide into and out of vertical alignment with said indicia, a plurality of electro-magnets disposed below each of said slidable tabs, said tabs being formed of a magnetic permeable material and adapted to slide into alignment with said indicia upon actuation of said electro-magnets, a permanent magnet associated with each of said eleotro-inagnets and adapted to retain said tabs in said aligned positions upon "leenergization of said electro-magnets, and means for manually returning said tabs to their visually inoperative positions against the action or" said permanent magnets.

2. An annunciator according to claim 1, each of said permanent magnets on its side remote from its corresponding tab having a shield of magnetically impermeable material.

3. An annunciator according to claim 1, each of said electro-magnets being connected in parallel with a source of voltage and connected in series with a manually operable switch, the nature of the indicia disposed over each electromagnet corresponding to the location of its respective switch.

4. An annunciator according to claim 3, a sounding means being connected in series with the source of voltage and adapted to sound upon actuation of any one of said electro-magnets.

5. An annunciator according to claim 1, said means for manually returning said tabs to their visually inoperative positions against the action of said permanent magnets comprising a rod, said channel-shaped member being adapted to slidably receive said rod below said tabs and a plurality of upwardly extending pins carried by said rod and adapted to return all of said tabs to their inoperative positions upon displacement manually of said rod.

6. An annunciator comprising a hollow housing having an opening in the front thereof, a transparent glass disposed in said window and carrying indicia thereon, a plurality of channels disposed within said housing below said window and glass, the color of said channels being substantially the same as that of said indicia, a plurality of flat tabs disposed slidably within said channels and below said indicia, said tabs being colored so as to contrast with said indicia and being adapted to slide into and out of vertical alignment with their respective indicia, a plurality of electro-magnets disposed within said housing below said channels and adapted to each underlie one of said tabs, each of said tabs being formed of magnetically permeable material and adapted to slide into alignment with its particular indicia upon actuation of its particular electro-magnet, a permanent magnet associated with each of said electro-magnets and adapted to retain its tab in the visually operative position upon de-energization of its particular electromagnet, each of said permanent magnets on its side remote from its respective tab having a shield of magnetically impermeable material,

means for supplying voltage to said electro-magnets, each of said electro-magnets being connected in series with a manually operable switch, the nature of the indicia disposed over each electro-magnet and its respective tab corresponding to the location of its respectiv switch, sounding means connected in series with said voltage supplying means and adapted to sound upon actuation of any one of said electro-magnets, a rod, said channels being adapted to slidably receive said rod below said tabs, and a plurality of upwardly extending pins carried by said rod and adapted to return all of said tabs to their inoperative positions upon manual displacement of said rod.

7. An annunciator comprising a transparent plate carrying indicia thereon, a second plate disposed below said transparent plate in alignment with said indicia, the color of said second plate being substantially the same as that of said indicia, a plurality of contrasting colored tabs of magnetically permeable material disposed on said second plate and adapted to slide into and out of vertical alignment with said indicia, a plurality of electro-magnets disposed below each of said slidable tabs, said tabs being adapted to slide into alignment with said indicia upon actuation of said electro-magnets, a permanent magnet associated with each of said electro-inagnets and adapted to retain said tabs in said aligned positions upon de-energization of said electro-magnets, and means for manually returning said tabs to their visually inoperative positions against the action of said permanent magnets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 258,537 Lungen May 23, 1882 1,089,589 Scheneck, et al. Mar. 10, 1914 1,831,873 Miller Nov. 17, 1936 

